How to Turn Your Stumbling Blocks Into Stepping Stones

By Dr Jesse Green

On 31 Aug 2018

The only way we can become the best versions of ourselves – whether that’s dentist, businessperson, husband, wife, friend – is to take care of our physical and mental health. Unfortunately, as a whole, dentists are prone to depression and have a suicide rate twice as high as the general population. That means it’s even more important for us to take some time to reset and recharge so we can continue to be the best dentists and people we can.

As high achieving individuals, it can only be expected that we will have to deal with setbacks in our careers. Learning how to cope with change is extremely important for our wellbeing. Often, opportunities can come to you dressed up as problems, so learning how to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones can help propel you forward in your career and in life.

You’re not alone.

When something goes wrong, it can be easy to get caught up in the feeling of, “Oh, my goodness, my world has ended.” It feels crushing. Maybe nothing will ever be the same. At that moment, it’s hard to see through the clouds to where the sun might shine again.

You have a wide support system beneath you. Whether that’s your family, friends, or professional mentors, there are people you can turn to for support and advice when you are struggling or when you are ready to take a chance.

Often, we feel we need to live out this narrative that we’re put together and can handle everything ourselves. But everyone needs help at some point. Even your professional mentors and idols had setbacks. While we might wish it, no one’s career trajectory is straight up. There are dips and plateaus through our careers and life in general.

Create the time to stay healthy.

Our mind and bodies are the vehicles that help us meet our goals. When I feel like my head is barely bobbing above water, I also tend to feel like I just need to keep pushing. I need to work more and more to stay on top of it. But in reality – that’s a fast road to burnout.

We can only put out what we put in – meaning we need time away from work to rest and recharge. Whether that’s taking a walk in the mornings, making time for your lunch smoothie, or taking a 10-minute meditation break, creating breaks in your day to prioritise your health doesn’t have to mean a three-hour commitment to head to the gym every day.

You will mentally feel better when you physically feel better.

Create a paradigm change.

Sometimes our struggles can come from a false story we tell ourselves. Paradigms are a pattern of behaviour or our underlying assumptions. Sometimes to turn a stumbling block into a stepping stone, we have to change our patterns of behaviour. If something isn’t working, it’s time for a paradigm shift.

This might be your belief that you need to work harder to keep your head above water (like I was talking about earlier) when in reality, you need to shift your paradigm to understand you can shift some of your responsibilities to people who are better equipped to handle them. As we’re always picking on accounting on this blog, if you are struggling to get your books in shape – maybe it’s because it shouldn’t be your job, but your bookkeeper’s.

It’s even more true these days because we recharge our mobile phone, we recharge our laptops, but what do we do to recharge ourselves?

— Catherine DeVrye

It’s the whole oxygen mask thing. If oxygen masks deploy on an airplane, you are instructed to put yours on first before you help others. This is a great metaphor for life. You need to ensure that your needs are met before you can stretch yourself thin to meet others’ expectations. Looking after our bodies. Trying to be our best selves. You can’t help others unless you’re in a good shape yourself.

Only worry about what you can change.

Sometimes the most freeing thing of all is to recognise that as much as we might want to, we can’t control everything in our lives. Don’t waste your energy worrying about the things you can’t change. Your power lies in what you can change. Too often we imagine things are much worse than they are or than they might be. This kind of thinking can easily overwhelm us even before something has gone wrong!

Keeping in perspective that you can’t entirely control the future can often help you let go of added stress and enjoy the process.

Resilience and perseverance are qualities which go hand in hand to make a real difference. —Dr. Jesse Green

Final Words…

Nearly every successful person has had more failures than successes. Successful people are those who are willing to try more often, fail more often, and pick themselves up time and time again. Successful people aren’t necessarily the smartest or the most innately talented. They are the most resilient and the most persistent.

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